Why people recommend it
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen is a sprawling contemporary novel that examines the complex dynamics of a Midwestern family and a suburban church community during a time of moral and social upheaval. On The Ezra Klein Show, Ray Madoff recommended the novel as her final book choice, describing fiction, and particularly Franzen's work, as a fantastic place to live and explore worlds away from our current reality. Dave Kim also highlighted the book on The Book Review as a personal favorite that proved difficult to put down. Additionally, Anna Dueno shared on The Book Review that she picked up the novel after previously writing off the author, ultimately loving the experience. The Book Review also featured critic Thomas Mallon, who discussed reviewing Franzen's work in the context of his previous major books like The Corrections and Freedom. Mallon noted that the author drew clearly upon his own experiences as a young person in a church group, specifically highlighting character Francis Cottrell and the suburban church group dynamics. Host Gilbert Cruz introduced Mallon to discuss the release of Franzen's latest book, noting how the narrative explores characters moving through profound personal and spiritual crossroads, cementing the novel as a significant modern literary achievement that continues to spark rich critical conversation among readers and reviewers alike.
Who recommended it
- Thomas Mallon Discussed
- Chuck Klosterman Discussed
- Ray Madoff Recommended
- Anna Dueno Discussed
- Gilbert Cruz Discussed
- Pamela Paul Discussed
- Dave Kim Recommended
- Greg Cowles Discussed
Thomas Mallon — 4 mentions
“tried to review this new novel in the context of these big books from the corrections on the corrections Freedom Purity and now Crossroads the books that people have really I think been aware of”
“I think when he moved away from families in Purity the novel that preceded Crossroads I think that was when he really in a way ran into trouble”
“that's certainly true of this new novel Crossroads where he's clearly drawn upon his own experiences as a young person in a church group”
“A reader of crosswords will have those moments there's a character Francis catrell who she's part of this Suburban church group”
Chuck Klosterman — 2 mentions
“I'm reading Jonathan franzen's crossroads right now and it's great and I've already forgotten Parts at the beginning of the book”
“I'm reading Jonathan Franzen's Crossroads right now, and it's great, but I've already forgotten parts at the beginning of the book.”
Ray Madoff — 1 mention
“And the last book is a book of fiction, the book "Crossroads" by Jonathan Franzen, fiction at any time, and particularly in these times, is just a fantastic place to live, to explore other things than the world that we’re living in.”
Anna Dueno — 1 mention
“I decided to go back to an author I had totally written off who I had first read in high school which is one Jonathan Franzen I read the corrections in high school and then I decided to pick up Crossroads which I absolutely loved”
Gilbert Cruz — 1 mention
“novelist and critic Thomas malan will join us to talk about franzen's latest book Crossroads”
Pamela Paul — 1 mention
“where does this novel Crossroads fall for you in the kind of Pantheon of Jonathan France and novels it's a lot better than Purity the one that preceded it”
Dave Kim — 1 mention
“and it was a tough book to to put down and the title is is Crossroads by Jonathan fransen”
Greg Cowles — 1 mention
“that's Jonathan fransen's Crossroads the main character is the associate pastor at a church and the whole setting millia of the book takes place against this church”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Um, and because because that's a way to within this well-ordered bourgeoa world, which is for better or worse the world I have to work with, it is a way to find more extreme emotional states and also get a more vivid kind of writing because if you hook into somebody who's like literally going crazy like in Crossroads, yeah,”
“there's a new novel by Paul auster called Bal Gartner”
“the new novel by Jonathan fransen Crossroads”
“and of course fransen's new Trilogy is is titled after something in Middle March so we're connecting Dots here”
“I may not have read more than those and Crossroads but I like cross roads less than the corrections are Freedom”